Cremation is rapidly becoming more popular with those who are passing away and their families. It is expected that within the next two to three years, over 70% of Calgarians will choose cremation for their final disposition and many will preplan their cremations in Calgary and funeral in order to save money and to save their family the difficulty of making plans after they have passed away.
There are many reasons that cremation has become so popular. These include the following:
- Price – Cremation is typically much less expensive than burial. With cremation, your loved one simply has to be placed into a leak proof cremation container. The lowest possible cost for a cremation is $1395. Cremations also usually lead to a simpler funeral or celebration of life service and we see fewer people choosing more extravagant traditional funerals these days. That said, you may plan any type of funeral service for your loved one and still see a price savings over choosing burial.
- Simplicity – In many cases, cremation is much more direct and simple because it only requires selecting a cremation container and the funeral home does the rest. For burial, you are required to choose a cemetery, casket, burial plot, headstone and many cemeteries also require a burial container as well. These choices can add up and increase both the cost and the amount of effort required to have your loved one brought to their final disposition.
- Values – There are many shifts in values that are fuelling the increase in cremations in Calgary. These range from religions being more accepting of cremations, a higher number of people in our area that are of a faith that favours cremation and people’s general values around spending money on end of life services. Each family is different, but we find that cremation is more common these days because society in general has changed their attitudes towards cremation.
When you’re looking at choosing cremation and planning a funeral, it’s hard to say for sure what the costs will be. A basic cremation with only the cremation and a simple container, with no service whatsoever, is the least expensive option at $1395. You may choose this type of service while also adding a funeral or memorial service before or after the cremation. You can even rent a casket for a viewing if you would like to.
If you are having a celebration, memorial or funeral when your loved one is to be cremated, you can discuss the different options with your funeral director who will let you know what the exact costs will be. You can give them your budget and top priorities and they can help you to plan the best service possible, or they can simply provide you with the information on costs so you can make your own selections as you go.
One thing that can impact the price of cremation services is preplanning. When you preplan your cremation and service, you can lock in the price these services cost today and prepay for them so the costs do not fluctuate. If your passing happens after inflation has increased prices, you won’t have to pay the difference.
